Riley is Divergent, or Rise of the Factions
by Andrew V. Smith
Summary: Back when the Factions were still being formed, the leaders were still looking for Divergents, to study, and to learn more about how to run their factions. Riley is one such sort of person, so she decides to help them. Unfortunately, Divergents are still dangerous, and as time progresses, and Riley begins to question the leaders' decisions, they start to mistrust her.


**Riley is Divergent**

There were 5 of them. They were all different, and they were arguing. On the control panel was a big red button. They were arguing whether they should press it. It had been built in by the workers about a year ago, when their quote, un-quote, "host" had turned 12. It was more of a symbiotic relationship, but that didn't, and still doesn't matter. My purpose here is to explain the events leading up to the power of the 5 factions, and the day it all started, was the day, when their host had an appointment with a neuro-surgeon. She had sustained a heavy head-injury 6 months ago, and she was still recovering from it. There were practically no symptoms left, and this would be her last check-up. With the returning normalcy, now, the 5 of them were debating whether they should take the plunge to press the button, the big red one marked "PUBERTY."

"I'm telling you, we've got to press it _sometime,_ " said one of them, in a yellow dress, and with blue hair. Her name was Joy, because that was the emotion she represented. It's complicated, but the truth about the human brain is that it's controlled by 5 self-aware emotions that had different jobs. All that sutff about wiring, and lobes and stuff is a load of crap. But that knowledge, is what allowed the factions to rise up, and gain control of the government.

"Nothing good will ever come of this," said a girl in a green dress, green skin, and green hair. "I've heard of what happens. It's so _gross_ ," the girl was meant to represent Disgust, providing a typical response, based on her emotion. "Well, what happens if we don't press it? What will people think of us if we don't grow up?" this voice was Anger, and he was getting riled up, as he often did in arguments. He wasn't that angry, actually, but he thought he was. His head hadn't shot out flames. Yet. "Everyone would understand if our life sucked, and we felt miserable all the time, and had mood swings, and all that..." the voice broke down into silent misery. It was obviously Sadness. Out of all of them, she was the one who showed her emotion most often. She was often at odds with Joy, who, up until recently, had tried to completely shut Sadness out, and at one point even left her to die, before realizing her purpose. Both she and Sadness knew that Sadness would not be restrained during a pubescent mood swing. "I'm with Disgust and Sadness. We don't know enough about this; just be cautious, and wait until we take the school's health class." this was Fear. He was cautious, but not really a ball of nerves. He could fold under pressure, but he was usually pretty measured, and in control.

"Wait, does the school cover that in health class?" asked Disgust.

"You know what, I'm gonna agree with Fear," said Joy. "We can wait on this. Just like people used to tell us, don't grow up too fast!"

They left it there, and as far as I know, still haven't pressed it. But in the meantime, in the real world a woman was calling them. Or rather, calling their host.

"Riley! It's time to go." Riley was the name of their host, and it was her mother who was calling. "Coming!" said Riley. "We better go guys," said Joy. Riley, of course, was unaware that her feelings _had_ feelings. She wasn't really aware of what her emtions "said," she just knew them as her thoughts.

At their control, she joined her mother downstairs, and got in the car in the street. They lived in a small town-house in San Francisco. They could not know, that many miles away, in a secret base, there were 10 people, sitting at computers, and 5 leaders, staring over their shoulders.

"Any news?" asked one of them, a man wearing a red T-shirt, with a black-leather jacket. "I'm sorry sir, but the hospitals have been very in-active lately. There just haven't been many accidents lately. We've been monitoring all activity, and it's been almost completely dead, much less showing any Divergents."

"Damn it." said a woman, in blue jeans, and a white blouse. " This is freakin' San Francisco. When I lived there as a kid I saw an accident nearly every month. And that was just in my neighborhood. The averages say there are about 2 crashes per week."

"The averages won't help anyone. We're working for the greater good here. There's no need to rush. There'll be patients eventually." This was a young woman wearing a gray dress, sitting on a chair towards the corner of the room.

"Typical of you, Griselda," said a man in a casual business outfit. "We need to face the facts. If we keep waiting, we'll never meet our required quota on time. The world will need to wait more years for the Factions. What we need to do is initiate the Manipulative Protocol."

"I don't think we need to be so drastic as that," said a woman in a casual green dress. "I'm sure it won't be long before _someone_ gets hurt. I don't like this business anyway. We'll find better ways after we meet the quota."

"But in the meantime," said the woman in the jeans, "What are we going to do now?"

They all sat in silence for a moment. The man in the black-leather jacket was Jared, Leader and Founder of the Dauntless Faction. The woman with the white blouse was named Maria, Founder of Erudite. The woman in gray was named Griselda, Founder of Abnegation. The man in the casual business wear was David, Leader and Founder of Candor. And the woman in green was Johanna, Leader of Amity. They had been in a meeting together about 1 year ago, for a great purpose: to find out the one source of evil in the world. Jared had blamed Cowardice, and formed the Dauntless. Maria had blamed ignorance, and formed the Erudite. Griselda blamed greed, and formed the Abnegation. David blamed deception, and formed the Candor. Johanna blamed violence, and formed the Amity.

Then, their thoughts were interuppted, when one of the computer workers, from Candor said, "Hey guys! I got a hit! Today is a check-up for an 11-year-old girl, and they're going to use the neuro-scanner!"

"Well, is she divergent?" said Maria.

"I dunno. But I'll listen in; we'll know by tonight.

Dauntless-Fear

Amity-Anger

Erudite- Joy

Candor- Disgust

Abnegation- Sadness


End file.
